Supported by Madrid, which again assured on Monday that political asylum would be granted to him, Venezuelan opponent Edmundo González Urrutia has promised to continue “the fight for freedom” from his exile in Spain, where he hopes to meet Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez soon.
Mr González Urrutia, who is being prosecuted in his country after contesting the controversial re-election in July of the head of state, Nicolas Maduro, left Venezuela with his wife on board a Spanish military plane that landed on Sunday afternoon at the Torrejon de Ardoz air base, near Madrid.
In a short 40-second audio message, the 75-year-old former ambassador spoke in the evening of “episodes of pressure, coercion and threats not to [le] let go,” without giving details.
Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia had ignored three summonses to appear before prosecutors, believing that appearing could have cost him his freedom.
He wanted to “request political asylum”, “which will of course be granted to him”, stressed the head of Spanish diplomacy, José Manuel Albares, on Onda Cero radio on Monday.
“There has been no political negotiation of any kind between the Spanish government and the Venezuelan government, that is to say, there has been no compensation for Edmundo González to be able to leave the country,” José Manuel Albares also assured.
Aside from his short message released late Sunday, Edmundo González Urrutia has remained discreet since his arrival in Spain. Sources close to the Venezuelan opponent explained to AFP that he would not make a public statement before meeting José Manuel Albares and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, both currently on an official visit to China.
“No qualms”
The United States, through the voice of the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken, had given its support to Edmundo González Urrutia on Sunday, strongly condemning “the decision of [Nicolas] Maduro to resort to repression and intimidation to cling to power.”
After a month in hiding, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia had to flee to “preserve his freedom and his life,” according to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who criticized on X a “regime [qui] has no qualms or limits in his obsession with silencing him and trying to break him.”
In Caracas, Venezuela’s attorney general, Tarek William Saab, considered to be under the orders of the government, on the contrary, joked about the opposition candidate’s departure for Spain, referring to the end of “the season of a humorous work.”
The Venezuelan opponent had been the target of an arrest warrant since September 2, with the public prosecutor’s office having opened investigations for “disobedience to the law”, “conspiracy”, “usurpation of functions” and “sabotage”.
“After voluntarily taking refuge in the Spanish embassy in Caracas a few days ago, he requested political asylum from the Spanish government,” Vice President Delcy Rodriguez wrote on social media, assuring that Venezuela had granted the necessary safe conduct for his departure “in the interest of peace and political tranquility in the country.”
Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia had agreed to replace Mr.me Machado, declared ineligible.
Parliamentary debate in Madrid
For the Spanish opposition, his visit to Spain does not “solve” the problem: Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the Popular Party (right), said on X that Edmundo González Urrutia should be recognized as the “elected president” of Venezuela and Nicolas Maduro prosecuted before the ICC.
The PP parliamentary group has also submitted a bill that will be debated on Tuesday in the Congress of Deputies to recognize Mr. González Urrutia’s victory. But the government, through its spokesperson Pilar Alegría, has insisted once again on the “absolute necessity” of having access to the minutes of the polling stations to guarantee “reliable results” of the vote.
Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner with 52% of the vote by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which did not make public the minutes of the polling stations.
According to the opposition, which published the minutes provided by its scrutineers, Mr Gonzalez Urrutia obtained more than 60% of the votes.
The United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries do not recognize Mr. Maduro’s re-election. Much of the international community had already failed to recognize his re-election in 2018, after an election boycotted by the opposition, which had cried fraud.
After the announcement of Mr Maduro’s re-election, spontaneous protests broke out. Their repression left 27 dead and 192 injured, while some 2,400 people were arrested, according to official sources.